Space Rawks! Tips & Tricks

Whilst the first couple of levels don't present too much of a challenge, crowd control is key. It's very easy to become overwhelmed with hordes of smaller asteroids if you're too liberal spraying shots everywhere destroying the larger ones. Once you've picked off one or two larger asteroids, spend some time cleaning up their smaller offspring before you move on. This becomes particularly important on higher levels where asteroids of all sizes move faster.

On higher levels you'll have more asteroids to deal with that take multiple hits to destroy. In this situation it's particularly important that you don't go mad destroying larger asteroids. Focus heavily on cleaning up where you can. (Does not apply to classic version of game.)

Try to destroy asteroids that take fewer hits first to quickly reduce the number of objects flying around on screen that can kill you. The last thing you want is two dozen small asteroids that are going to take three hits a piece to kill hurtling around all over the place - you probably won't last long.

Try to stay in the centre of the screen as much as possible. That way you can more easily see what's going on in your immediate vicinity. If you hang around near the edges it's all too easy to be taken by surprise by an asteroid wrapping around from the other side of the screen.

Taking advantage of the screen wraparound yourself can be a useful tactic but use it with care. Similar to camping near the edges, it's just too easy to run slap bang into an asteroid on the other side of the screen. Wraparound is best used either out of desperation (but see the tip on hyperspace below), or towards the end of the level when you only have a few asteroids left to clear up.

Use hyperspace only as a last resort. I.e., only use it where the alternative is death. If you need to user hyperspace it's most likely because you have a crazy number of rocks flying around everywhere, so there's at least a 50% chance you're going to die anyway on any given jump. So, like I say, only use it when certain death is the only other option.

Your shield can prove helpful but, again, be careful. If you use it for too long it will drain your ship's energy, and your ship will be destroyed. Likewise, if it takes hits it will drain energy that will reduce the amount of time you can use it. Your shield takes time to recharge so don't try to use it too often or you'll definitely die.

Flying saucers, particularly the small ones, are worth a lot of points. You get an extra ship every 10,000 points, so shoot flying saucers to help you get there more quickly.

Black holes come in three sizes: small, medium, and large. Whilst none of them will destroy your ship directly, they all affect objects on the screen (asteroids, flying saucers, your ship, and even bullets), which means they can pull objects in that will collide with and destroy you. The large black hole is powerful enough to capture your ship if you get too close. Your ship will remain captured until the black hole leaves the screen. Your problem in the meantime will be that it's also powerfully sucking in all the other objects in play, meaning you'll most likely be destroyed. Therefore try to avoid going near the large black hole at all costs. If you are captured you can escape with hyperspace, but this is obviously risky.